


we share the same heart

by InfiniteWoonique



Series: Knocked Up [3]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Children, Cute, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family, Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Pregnant Choi Jongho, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 06:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20577812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfiniteWoonique/pseuds/InfiniteWoonique
Summary: a family shares the same heart, all seven of them





	we share the same heart

"Okay, girls! Screen time is over," Mingi exclaimed as he walked into the living room, promptly turned their living room television off despite all the complaints from his daughters, roars of plaints and whines following. However, the youngest one, Eunji, seemed rather excited for screen time to be over since she started to clap her hands and reach out for Mingi to grab her. The sunshine in her eyes glistened as the roses bloomed on her pale skin, chubby hands grasping for the hold of her father. Mingi bent over and picked Eunji up, arms immediately wrapping around her father's neck and resting her head on his shoulder, small pigtails tickling his skin. She was by far the most obedient of the three, but she also had this unconditional love for her father that left her unable to disregard his authority. She looked just like Mingi too, small eyes and thick lips, pointed nose and maybe that's what aided in her affinity to her father. She looked just like him while the other two daughters perfectly mirrored Jongho, round eyes, round nose, round cheeks. Eunji was like a little puppy, blindly following Mingi as her superior, but he would never lead her astray. His love for her was too great to do so, "It's time to go on a walk," he announced, adjusting Eunji in his arms as he walked towards the foyer where everyone's shoes sat on a shelf. Eunji chanted a relentless mantra of 'Pink!" referring to her pink, jelly shoes that she refused to leave the house without.

"But Daddy!" whined Eunae, tone something she had learned from Jongho when he whined at Mingi, "I want one more movie! I was at school all day," she sprawled out, arms spread wide and invading Eunhye's personal space, the second oldest and the one with the most patience of them all. 

As a six-year-old, the hardest thing she had to do during the day was read and play. First grade was a joy ride and she had no pressing responsibilities to attend to after school. She had already watched a movie today, there was no room for another, not when there were so many other options to occupy her time with, such as spending the last few hours before bedtime with her entire family outside where they could focus on each other rather than on made-up cartoon characters. Jongho wanted to limit exposure to imaginary situations and stories based on the likeness of young children and preferred real-life interaction with people. Screen time was limited so their children would have to play with each other and so far it proved to work with their social skills, but that had no shortage of complaints from the oldest daughter. Eunae liked to challenge the authority of both her parents even when it was unnecessary. She was more acquiescent towards Jongho, but he wasn't here right now. It was up to Mingi to wrangle their daughters and prepare them to leave the house while Jongho readied the dog and water bottles for the family to drink if needed. It was still hot in late summer, heated enough to leave the five of them sweating within five minutes.

"Well, instead of rotting your brain, you can spend the rest of your day with your sisters, Mommy, and Daddy. I'm sorry we're being so horrible and unfair," he joked, smiling and praising Eunhye as she hopped off the couch and ran towards Mingi and Eunji, ready to put her shoes on as well. She was an efficient shoe lacer now and could do so within seconds without help. She had earned three M&Ms from the candy jar the first time she did so without Jongho's help, "You'll like it once you're outside," another groan from his eldest indicated that she was heading over now, but not without stomping her feet and mumbling under her breath, “You always do, right?” again, no answer. Just mumbling.

Scrapes of excited claws against hardwood entered the room, "Hwan's ready," Jongho happily announced as he entered the room with their one-year-old, fluffy standard poodle on a leash, tall enough to nose perfectly at Jongho's round belly, pregnant with their only son and last child. It had been the luck of the draw since they had been trying for one since they had their second daughter, and now their little boy was growing strong and healthy and that was all they could ask for. Although technically, he was their second son since they had Hwan, he was their first human baby as opposed to a fur baby, "He's our excited little boy," Jongho cooed with a raised voice, open-mouthed smile as per habit. Hwan yipped in excitement, nosing at and licking Eunhye who had scrambled to touch and pet their puppy. She was Hwan's biggest fan and Hwan was her biggest fan, "He needs to get all his zoomies out or he'll run around the house all night."

When all their daughters were finished getting ready, Mingi straightened up once his shoes were on and spoke in his best dad voice, "Should we use the stroller today?" he turned to face his youngest daughter since she was the reason they used the stroller right now, "What do you think, Jiji? Do you want the stroller tonight or no stroller?" options were a favorite in this house when offered, but Jongho was the biggest enforcer. Mingi was a fan of his children doing as he asked since he never asked for anything too difficult, but he was attempting to improve at doing so. They all responded better faced with options rather than being told what to do directly. A perfect example being earlier when Eunae complained at Mingi's request.

Choices were a learning technique and it was more for Eunji's benefit as she processed decision making and making good choices. Being given choices excited her since it was her deciding for herself rather than her parents. It delivered a sense of independence that she would need as one of the younger children, "No! I walk with Unnies!" she shouted, reaching out and hugging onto Eunae who hugged back with enthusiasm. Her mood had improved greatly and she was now excited to leave the house.

"Okay, no stroller then," Jongho chirped as he handed water flasks to all of his daughters, covered in pictures of butterflies and princesses or whatever the individual daughters decorated their bottles with before he walked to the front door. It was more of a waddle as the round ligament pain affected his movement and limited the speed he could travel, being seven months pregnant. Walking in the evening had become routine to alleviate the pain and it also makes their son very happy when Jongho moves around for half an hour. Jongho was sure it rocked him to sleep and the constant movement was pleasant for him. There were only benefits to walking and it was even better when it was with his entire family when he had someone to talk to, "But you have to promise that you'll walk the whole time and won't ask for Daddy to hold you when you get too tired," it was often how the night ended and they were waiting for the day she could walk on her own without whining to be held, "You're a big girl and big girls can walk on their own. Promise me, please."

"I promise!" she exclaimed, stamping her little feet as the internal excitement increased, "Jiji promises!" well, a promise was a promise.

"I'll hold you to that, little lady," Jongho nodded with a chubby-cheeked smile as he handed the leash to Mingi, now occupying his empty hands with the house keys and the hand of Eunae who was ready to go, "Let's go!" the opening of the front door was like releasing the floodgates as children and dogs bolted from the house. Eunae had dropped her mother’s hand in favor of running to grab the dandelion she had spotted and in the excitement, Eunji followed resulting in Hwan sprinting to run with his sisters. Eunhye had been the only one to stay still, holding tight to Mingi’s hand even when her father was being dragged by their pet.

Mingi had hold of the leash and he made sure he had a firm grip on the handheld portion so their pet didn’t pummel his daughters or run too far away, Jongho closing the front door behind them. Mingi braced himself, grunt leaving his lips, “Hwan, calm down, buddy!” obedient as ever, the poodle looked back at Mingi and stuck his tongue out, lolling to the side before turning back to interact with Eunae who was now blowing the seeds off the single dandelion she had plucked from the grass. Eunji poked at the seeds that flew by, giggling in delight as they passed her like summer's snow. One clung to her fringe and stuck out like a stray antenna, short-lived as Eunae reached out and removed it from her hair with excited noises, parting it askew and revealing more of her forehead to the evening sun.

The sky was a lemon yellow, radiant orange, darkening to crimson the further it extended past the horizon line of the Korean mountains in the distance. Everyone held the same orange in their eyes and it gleamed among the tanned skin of every member. Being outside was the best part of their day, especially when the sky was so pretty and so warm. It was better than staying under a roof that blocked nature's natural beauty that Jongho adored so much. These evening walks weren't just for his body and succoring in the way it was still stretching even on his fourth baby, but it was also for his need to admire his surroundings and how they have blessed him and his family. If Jongho could spend the day doing anything he wanted, he would choose to go to the mountains and camp and eat fruit all day with all of his children, their puppy, and Mingi. And even taking a walk around their suburban neighborhood after a day full of running after his children was just as good, and he finalized that it wouldn't be right without the ones he loved.

Jongho loved the sight of his children playing and enjoying the simple things that dotted childhood, but he also frowned, disgruntled at the spread of seeds. There were going to be more weeds and dandelions sprouting in their grass by the week’s end and he would have to call the lawn company that was constantly bothering him to spray their property so no more would spread. He would need that when he has three daughters insist on blowing every seed off of the seed heads and into their uninfested lawn. Being a mother was hard and he had to draw the line between fun and nuisance, "Eunae, love, please come hold Mommy's hand," he ordered, holding his hand raised for her to take. His hands were strong enough to split apples within a second but soft enough to gently cradle his daughters' hands. Eunae listened and ran towards her mother, Eunji taking delight in her example as she took Jongho's other hand. It was Eunji who reached up and patted Jongho's belly as though greeting her brother.

"I have Daddy's hand!" Eunhye shouted, wanting to feel validated as her sisters were. Mingi chuckled and squeezed her tiny hand in his, thumbing at the small streak of acrylic paint that was on the back of her hand. She always had something on her hands, whether it be marker, paint, ink, there was always evidence of her artistry and creativity.

"Thank you so much, lovey-dovey," Jongho cooed with a gorgeous flash of teeth and full cheeks. Mingi felt his heart jump at the sight of his husband's beauty. Or maybe it was his dog's insistence to speed up making his heart pick up the pace, guard high, constant tugging at his leash. Whatever the reason, he knew that keen attention to his husband was enough to keep him going and to insist he live life with his husband and his three beautiful daughters and soon to be son.

So they started the walk that would weave them through houses and the neighborhood in order to obtain some sense of comfort for the night. Walks were rarely ever peaceful and were instead full of noise and loud voices, chats between the young children and the married pair. Eventually, when the relative silence was too loud for the family of six (including Hwan), it was Eunhye that lead them all into a symphony of song. Even when she was the quietest of them all, she could belt out notes like it was no one else's business and it was always in good fun. Her favorite songs to sing were the songs on the radio and one that always seemed to stick recently was bubbly and fun. It was about going through a lot and being together, something that was cute and nice and wasn't full of trashy lyrics and inappropriate things that neither Mingi nor Jongho wanted their children to repeat. A song about the ocean's waves and how they carried away their problems, to live in the moment, a song that Mingi and Jongho's middle daughter loved the most.

"Hakuna Matata!" Eunhye screeched, running ahead to hold onto Hwan's fluffy ears. She started to wave them as though they could dance, holding them high before dipping below his eyes in an interpretive translation of the popular pop song. Hwan was desensitized to all the contact and movement since it happened so often, so he just stood there and dealt with Eunhye's antics. He even wagged his tail as she messed with his ears.

"Hakna Mata!" Eunji parroted the best she could, finding the phrase far too difficult to pronounce when she was so young. The song was one of her favorites too, even trying her best to dance whenever that familiar beat started. There was already a choreographed dance to the song, but Eunji had made her own, simple and more child-like and erratic. It was cute.

"Deodeodeo millyeowa deo," Eunae offered, jogging to swing around Eunhye and hold her hands, saving their puppy from the torture she was providing and instead using their connected hands to dance in a circle, "Hakuna Matata!" leading a chorus of continuous "oh"s followed and everyone was in sync as they sang. The song was a family favorite, every beat was etched into their hearts, at least for the summer.

They were getting louder and giggles ensued as they felt the music in their hearts. The joy that was felt was all too powerful and it was Mingi who joined next, his deep, baritone voice joining his daughter's soprano voices with such ease and ridiculous contrast. His tone was only a little shaky, singing without a care since it was just his daughters listening in. The section he was singing was a rap and Mingi was all too talented in that area. Finally, it was Jongho who joined next, and he was the only one in the family who had ever received training for singing. He was naturally loud when he sang and his middle toned voice could reach impressive octaves with such professionalism. This time he happened to use the highest octave he could reach and it was very loud and alarming and enough for the rest of his family to join in just as loud if not more so. Jongho was the largest influencer of their whole family in many aspects.

The family walked by a fenced yard and a few steps through the perfectly lined wood, a dog behind the slats started to bark at the introduction of new people too close to his territory. His bark was intimidating, but since the girls were so used to a dog's barking, they weren't even phased and they continued to sing as loud as they could with added background noise. Mingi momentarily wondered if it was Hwan the dog was barking at, or his family with how loud they were being. Passing the yard, it fleed his mind and all he had to worry about now was making sure his daughters stayed on track and didn't stray away from their small herd. He was also worried for Jongho, making sure he was still comfortable and wasn't feeling any pain as they walked on such a hard surface. This was Jongho's fourth pregnancy and there wasn't anything he hadn't experienced yet, but making sure he was feeling his best was still Mingi's priority. An occasional rub of his back or a swipe of his hand over the crest of his belly, a squeeze to his hand were all there to reassure Jongho that he could speak up if he wasn't feeling his best. Mingi wanted the best for his husband.

When the singing halted and it fell to a comfortable silence among the seven of them, Jongho brought up a topic that has been in the limelight since they found out he was pregnant and had escalated further when they found out they were finally having a boy, "Have you girls thought of any names for your little brother?" they were still deciding and it was ultimately up to Mingi and Jongho to finalize the name, but hearing suggestions from their young daughters was always entertaining. And as though he understood that he was being spoken about, their little boy kicked and shuffled inside of Jongho, knocking some of the air from his lungs enough for him to grab onto Mingi's arm to stabilize himself. Mingi held him up as Jongho rubbed his belly, soothing his son enough so he could breathe normally again. He got his strength directly from Jongho and it was something else Mingi worried about, not wanting Jongho to experience a lot of pain in the final months of his pregnancy.

"I have one!" Eunae shouted animatedly, reaching behind her to pat her mother's round belly, halting their movement for a second before she jogged ahead. She was a very tactile child, and she was especially so towards her brother, "Rosie!" her confidence in the name was admirable and adorable, "Baby Rosie!"

The girls typically suggested some pretty bad names, names that aren't even traditionally Korean, or proper. The thought was adorable and everyone appreciated their effort, but the names could never be used. It was Eunji who spoke up next and hers were always inspired by cartoons she had watched recently, and that day they had watched Frozen.

"Olaf!" Eunji giggled as she sped up, toddling to catch up to her oldest sister, "Olaf loves warm hugs!"

"So that means we name your baby brother Olaf?" Mingi asked in amusement, smile and hint of a laugh on his lips. Her insistent 'yes' was all they needed for an answer before she was hugging onto Eunhye who was still speculating names. Mingi took a second to turn to Jongho and offer his own name to his husband, seeing if it was a good fit for their son, "Eunkwang?"

Jongho thought about it, pondered for a few seconds but decided that it wasn't a name he particularly adored. It didn't fit their son, "Probably not," he shrugged, pout on his lips as his hand glided over his stretched abdomen, feeling the pattering of feet on his palm, "We need more Eun names though, that's the only part we can agree on," it was. They needed their son to fit in the set that was their children.

"Taffy!" Eunhye offered as well, squeak of her voice startling, "Or Daffy! I like both!" she stated, planned tilt of her head and purse of her lips showcasing her pride in name choice, "What about you, Mommy?"

Jongho tried not to laugh, wanting his children to feel included and not made fun of, "I kind of like Eunwoo," he proposed, turning to look towards Mingi, "Sound good?"

Mingi pursed his lips in thought and shrugged, not feeling the name entirely but finding that it was kind of cute, "Kind of."

"Fishy!" Eunji shouted, giggles rising from her throat and to control the sudden excitement she felt, hugged onto Hwan and squeezed enough for him to try and squirm out of her grasp. Her small teeth peeked past her pink lips, endearing entirely and making Jongho and Mingi's hearts sing in infatuation for their current youngest. 

"Good name!" Jongho cooed, suddenly stepping closer to interlock his arm with Mingi's, turning into Mingi escorting Jongho along the turn of the sidewalk. His waddle caused his hips to bump into Mingi's hips, more like higher thigh since he was several centimeters taller than the younger. He was close and Mingi enjoyed the proximity but not so much the extra heat, especially since Jongho was like a human furnace. Another name slipped by and again, it didn't quite sound right, "Eunhyuk?"

"Eunho?" Mingi responded with another suggestion and just like every other name offered, it didn't quite sound right. Jongho answered with a shrug and it was left at that.

"I'm excited for baby brother to come home," Eunae spoke, a bounce in her step as she hopped over a crack in the sidewalk, "I hope he wants to play when he gets here.”

Jongho cooed and his heart shook in delight. His daughter was far too precious for this world, "He'll want to eventually, but first all he'll want to do is sleep and eat. You'll have to wait a bit more to play with him, okay?" and it wasn't like he expected much else as Eunae groaned and stomped her foot in an impromptu tantrum. She was impatient and wanted things her way and it was something they were trying to work on with her, "Your brother needs some time like Eunji needed some time to get to play with you," she'd had a similar reaction to finding out that Eunji would need some time before she could play with her too.

"You can teach him how to play," Mingi joined, "But at first he needs Mommy and Daddy to help him do everything before he can do anything on his own. Sorry love, you were the same way," he was attempting to correct the situation and make it so they didn't have a temper tantrum on their hands. They were having a good time and it didn't need to sour due to hurt feelings, "It just takes some time and patience, and besides, you'll get to play with him for the rest of your life. That's like 90+ more years to look forward to. Don't be too disappointed."

"Okay, Daddy," Eunae pouted, but her previous bad mood was nonexistence and was replaced with the insistence to have a good time with her sisters in the moment. She and Eunhye started to skip along the concrete and avoid cracks, chanting that if they do step on the cracks that their mother's back would break, and the notion upset Eunji before she was explained to that Jongho was going to be okay. Trivial details such as nursery rhymes were still difficult for Eunji to grasp onto. She was still learning.

The dynamic of their group mellowed out as everyone decided that the last few minutes of their walk were meant to stay quiet and enjoy the outside and fresh air. The sun was setting and lowering in the sky, pink hue darkening to purple as the night set in. Crickets were starting to sing and chirp, scurrying away and Eunhye tried to catch the ones she could see. The darker it got, the closer everyone huddled to avoid the unknown in the dark and as expected, Mingi ended up picking Eunji up and holding her as they had predicted when she got too tired to walk on her own. Jongho ended up holding the leash and Mingi held their youngest daughter to his chest, her head resting on his shoulder as the fatigue set in and her little body reached its limit. When they arrive home, it would need to be bedtime.

Walking through the door of their home and untying tiny shoes, the girls were put to bed and Hwan was shown his dog bed in the living room as Jongho and Mingi made their way to their own bed. They were going to stay awake for a little while longer, but it would be spent holding each other and talking, kisses snuck in between as they discussed their future child and how they were going to adjust to four children who would depend on them entirely. Not that they were complaining. 

Even when there were five of them, all baring different personalities and preferences when it came to everything, the heart they shared was one. They were a family and combined, they were the same and found joy in the same things. Both Jongho and Mingi loved their family, loved their children, loved their dog. Loved each other and they were all each other needed, happy to be together. Falling to sleep tonight, all they felt was bliss as they contemplated their livelihoods and the blessings they lived with. Everything was perfect and that was all they could think about as they fell asleep that night. Absolutely perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!!! <<33


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